Adopted at the 119th Annual Conference

San Diego, CA
October 3, 2012

Reduction of Secondary Crashes
Submitted by: Highway Safety Committee
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WHEREAS, a traffic incident is an unplanned, randomly occurring traffic event that adversely effects normal traffic operations; and

WHEREAS, according to the Traffic Incident Management Handbook, traffic incidents cause about one-quarter of the congestion on U.S. roadways; and

WHEREAS, for every minute a freeway lane is blocked by an incident, four minutes' travel delay time results; and

WHEREAS, a secondary crash is a collision resulting from the original traffic incident that occurs within an incident scene or within the queue, including in the opposite direction; and

WHEREAS, according to the Traffic Incident Management Handbook , the likelihood of a secondary crash increases by 2.8 percent for every minute that the primary incident remains a hazard; and

WHEREAS, on average, one law enforcement officer has been struck and killed by a vehicle each month over the past 24 years; according to Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2010, five firefighters were killed in 2010 in "struck by" collisions, one tow truck operator is struck and killed every six days, and an even a greater number of highway workers are victims of "struck by" crashes; and

WHEREAS, secondary crashes alone are responsible for a significant number of fatalities and collisions; and

WHEREAS, traffic incident management practices and performance measures have demonstrated a reduction in crashes, in roadway clearance times, and in incident clearance times; and

WHEREAS, the 4th edition of the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria includes attributes designated to assist in identifying roadway circumstances that contribute to secondary crashes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), duly assembled at its 119th Annual Conference in San Diego, California, acknowledges that to the degree that law enforcement and other disciplines effectively, efficiently, and safely prepare for—and respond to—the primary incident, congestion, as well as the frequency and seriousness of secondary crashes, will be reduced; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP calls upon state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to commence collecting and analyzing data concerning secondary crashes with an eye toward adopting Traffic Incident Management performance measures to reduce these crashes and the death and serious injuries they produce.